Brady Quinn discusses his Michigan, Ohio State interest as a recruit, B1G quarterbacks as NFL prospects and more

CHICAGO — B1G fans might not have the best memories of Brady Quinn.

After all, the former Notre Dame quarterback was 7-4 against B1G teams during his three years as a starter in South Bend.

But now, B1G fans will get to know Quinn in a different capacity. The Fox Sports college football analyst will be part of the network’s expansion of B1G coverage this fall. Quinn thrived in that capacity calling Pac-12 games last year, and he figures to do the same back in familiar territory in the Midwest.

We had a chance to catch up with Quinn on Tuesday at B1G Media Days in Chicago.

Saturday Tradition — What’s that reaction been like knowing that you’re going to be going into these places where fanbases rooted against you during your playing days?

Quinn — Well, I always had that in the Pac-12 playing against Stanford, USC, UCLA and those schools. So it hasn’t changed much. I think when you’re a broadcaster, your job is to educate, entertain and inform, and really be as objective as you can about what you’re seeing out there and try to add some value to the broadcast.

Honestly, this opportunity to go out and see different schools and talk to the coaches and see how they do things, it’s really eye-opening. It makes you kind of say, ‘What if I would’ve went to a Michigan State or Michigan or somewhere else?’ You don’t really get that inside look as a recruit. That’s kind of the dog and pony show.

Once you’re able to actually go to the university, see how they practice, see how the coaches are and all that, you get a little bit better sense of what it would’ve actually been like. That’s the cool part about all of it. You always wonder if you would’ve relived this again and say ‘What if I went to Michigan this time?’ and played there instead of somewhere else. That’s where my mind wonders when we get the opportunity to talk to schools.

ST — You had to get a ton of attention from B1G schools. How close were you to potentially attending a B1G school?

Quinn — Yeah, Michigan and Ohio State were the two schools that were really close. I’m from Dublin, Ohio so clearly there was proximity that played a part. (Ohio State) had just won a national championship my senior year of high school. That played a part. Loved Luke Fickell. He was who recruited me. Loved Coach (Jim) Tressel. But it just wasn’t the right fit.

Michigan was really close. They had a great pre-law program. For me, it was a lot about academics, at least with my parents and football was as good as it gets, too. They had a great tradition of quarterbacks going to the NFL. Tom Brady was huge at that point in time. He had just hit the scene with the Patriots and I had grown up watching him so I continued to follow him. I think that played a little bit of an impact in me wanting to follow in his footsteps.

ST — Notre Dame is back to setting up these B1G matchups again. There’s talks about them playing Wisconsin at Soldier Field maybe. Notre Dame playing against the B1G, they belong playing against those B1G teams, don’t they? Are those games different for Notre Dame?

Quinn — They’re different for two reasons. One, the competitiveness for not only the players, but the coaches, too, because of the recruiting trails. They see these guys and they’re out there competing and they might bump into them at a school and now there’s not only that competition on the field, there’s that competition off the field in recruiting.

And I think a lot of the times, you know those players on the other team. You played somewhere, either in the same state as them or you might’ve played against them in an all-star game, but you’ve got to know them as well because of living in close proximity to one another along the recruiting process.

As players, you know it’s a similar style of football. It’s gonna be physical, it’s gonna be hard-nosed and you kinda love that. You feel like it’s a little bit of a street fight and you gotta get the first punch in.

ST — You know quarterbacks very well. When you look at the landscape of the conference, who do you look at and say, ‘that’s an NFL quarterback.’

Quinn — It’s hard because I think the college game is so different from the NFL game. You look at the skill-set of a guy like Trace McSorley. He’s short, but he can throw the deep ball well and he’s athletic and he seems to be able to make big plays. J.T. Barrett, for example, has a tremendous skill-set as far as being a leader and being able to take care of the football and make good decisions and he has a ton of experience.

But then, you try to compare what they’re asked to do in college to what they’re gonna have to do at the NFL level, it’s a different story. You look at a kid like Wilton Speight, he fits that drop-back quarterback spot. He’s obviously gonna be playing in an NFL system very similar to what Coach (Jim) Harbaugh is asking him to do. All those things lead not only to an easier transition, but a better chance of teams looking at (Speight) at the next level and saying ‘Yeah, that guy could be a quarterback for us.’

ST — I know you don’t know your entire schedule yet, but is there a B1G venue you’re looking forward to potentially calling a game at this year?

Quinn — Yeah. I get to go to Ohio State Week 3. Ohio State-Army.

ST — That’s official?

Quinn — Yeah, it’s incredible. This has been such a godsend because I get to go back home and transition into a career where I get to be around all my family. I’ve got a foundation that works with wounded veterans so we’re gonna have an event there partnering with the USO in central and south Ohio for a bunch of vets. It’s about football, but it’s also so much bigger than football for me.

I almost get worked up just thinking about it because it’s such a cool thing to go back. I haven’t been back in that (Ohio State) press box since I was being recruited there. It’s kind of neat to be able to go back there and see how it’s changed.